SEASON 7
Top 24
Amy Davis- She looked old, and "Where the Boys Are" was not a good choice song, at all. She did not sing it well either, probably one of the worst performances in Season 7. I think the only positive comment I'd say about her was what Paula told her, she looked good.
Joanne Bordella- Again, "Say a Little Prayer" wasn't a good choice for her. She should have picked a song that could show a bit of versatility in her voice. She had potential.
Garrett Haley- I thought Simon was right about him. He should see the sun, freshen up and pick the right song for him.
Colton Berry- "Suspicious Minds" was an okay song for him, but it didn't do anything for me. He had confidence, I'll give him that. But he lacked the likeability factor.
Top 20
Alexandrea Lushington- "If You Leave Me Now". She should have picked a song that would fit her voice, which was pretty strong. Her song didn't do her voice justice.
Alaina Whitaker- I was actually expecting her to enter the Top 12. I think it goes back to the popularity among old favorites and new favorites. She became one of the background contestants. She had a decent performance with "I Love You More Today than Yesterday", but her elimination sealed the deal a bit with her rendition of "Hopelessly Devoted to You"
Robbie Carrico- I tried liking Robbie, but I am with Simon here. I think he is worse than Constantine, in terms of being a 'rocker'. He could be coined as the great pretender. He was a Britney Spears boy.
Jason Yeager- He has a good voice. Sings well, but he chose very boring songs & sometimes he looked old. No charisma, perhaps unlike the 3 other horsemen.
Top 16
Asia'h Epperson- I was hoping that she'd be in the Top 12. I really enjoyed "Piece of my Heart" and "I Wanna Dance with Somebody". And she seems like a fun & likeable person. I would have replaced her with either Syesha Mercado or Kristy Lee Cook.
Kady Malloy- I never got the appeal of Kady. I love her Britney Spears impersonation only. Other than that, she comes off as someone who is trying hard to be herself. Very off-pitch in her last 2 performances.
Danny Noriega- Danny was one of my bets to be in the Top 12. Sadly, his time was up and it had something to do with either the producers not wanting him or America not wanting him. I still don't understand. The ratings will be a lot higher if he joined the Top 12. I enjoyed all of his performances. Tsk, I would've liked to hear more of him. Switch with Chikezie.
Luke Menard- He's a very good looking guy. Orlando Bloom, is that you? But he didn't do his high-pitched voice any justice. He picked songs that showcased a lot of his weaknesses.
Top 12 (Was I happy for this bunch? I started to be only 70% happy, but towards the end... it didn't matter anymore)
David Hernandez- this guy was very underrated. He killed "Papa was a Rolling Stone" and showed potential to be at least in the Top 10 for the concert tour. Did the "rumor" hurt his chances? Maybe, maybe not. He should stop with the eyebrow thing though.
Amanda Overmyer- "I Hate Myself for Loving You" was fantastic. Then she showed her arrogant side. She is one of the unique contestants in AI history. I love her voice.
Chikezie Eze- I wanted to punch him when he got in the Top 12 instead of Danny, but I learned to like him a bit after 'She's a Woman'. I won't deny that he's got the voice, but lacked intelligence when picking a song for him during his birthyear. He knew it was coming. I did too.
Ramiele Malubay- She did great with "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me", but she continued on with the similar "sitting on a piano" music & attempted to escape elimination with her cuteness and obscure song choices that made me cower every minute (ex: Alone and I Should've Known Better). She could've stayed longer. She has a great voice.
Michael Johns- Top 8? Was America crazy? Did the producers purposely kick him out to create a shock elimination? I think so. Michael had his magical performances with "We Will Rock You/We are the Champions" and "It's All Wrong But It's All Right". I will never understand what went wrong, and excuse me, "Dream On" was actually a great and underrated performance.
Kristy Lee Cook- I hated her from the beginning until she sang "God Bless the U.S.A". She was like the Jasmine Trias-Scott Savol-Kevin Covais-Sanjaya of Season 7, but the best performer/sing among the rest of the survivors. She's a country singer and AI already has a country artist winner, who is by the way the most successful AI contestant, still I wouldn't be caught dead buying country. Few good songs, and that's it.
Carly Smithson- Top 6? Really now. I thought Carly was one of the frontrunners since the beginning, auditions. She was then visited by a herd of overly performed songs or just Simon's 'kiss of death'. 'Blackbird', 'The Show Must Go On'... too much going on and she oversung them both. She was in my Top 5. Great voice, next Ann Wilson perhaps? No? We'll see.
Brooke White- Brooke, according to Randy, has 'folksy songwriter' written all over her. I am for that (ex. Jack Johnson, John Mayer, Jason Mraz), but I'd rather listen to a guy folksy artist. She had her moments, "Let It Be", "Love is a Battlefield" and her last performance "I Am... I Said". She had potential in becoming the winner, but her forgetfulness broke her.
Jason Castro- Now he is unique. Why only Top 4? Because he supposedly flubbed the lyrics of "Mr. Tambourine Man". If he did not "forget" the lyrics, he'd be with the Davids. He'll do good in the music business, I hope. Good looking, charistmatic, beautiful & soothing voice, plays the ukulele, what's not to love? What's my problem with Jason? He was too relaxed and he really wanted to give up.
Syesha Mercado- I still don't get why Syesha is the Top 3. I thought she'd be gone before entering Top 12. And then when she entered, I thought she'd be gone the first week. Was she truly a survivor of eliminations or did the producers call for some "diversity" with the contestants? I pick the latter. She had a few good performances supported by her great range like "Vanishing" and probably "I Will Always Love You" because I knew that she knew she'd be humongously compared with Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston, and she tried being herself. And that was her problem, she didn't show her personality. She showed her talent as an "actress" not a natural and effortless singer/performer.
David Archuleta (runner up)- I was so happy when they announced the Davids are the Top 2. Archie, I liked him since the start of the show, the auditions. I was always hoping that he would sing at least one John Mayer song to show his versatility when it comes to singing other melodies, not just the ballads and strange change of music with "With You". I have to agree with Randy, he can sing anything, well almost anything. I still can't forget the times when he forgot the lyrics and he played it cooly by being much more adorable. I predict that he will do great in the music business. Was I sad when he didn't win? No, because I thought Cookie deserved it as well.
Well, who didn't? (My guess, the few contestants who didn't show strength with their performances and personalities)
David Cook (winner)- I only started to like him when he sang "Hello". I saw a strange Chris Daughtry copycat during his audition and a weak performer during Hollywood. But when Top 16 came, I was blown away (his own arrangement or not). In my opinion, he only became a frontrunner during the Lennon/McCartney week because of Simon's comment "...if this remains to be a talent competition rather than a popularity competition... you could actually win this" (something like that). For others like (Archie, Carly and Michael), I thought they'd automatically be in the Top 3 or something, well that came true for Archie. Cookie, showed strength with his performances and he brought originality in American Idol. He mostly didn't stick by the original arrangement and immediately did his own. I think he ultimately changed American Idol with his determination and artistry. Yes, he has a similar singing voice with the likings of Chad Kroeger or Jason Wade, but does that mean he can't be a great musician? He is a very courageous man who is now the winner of American Idol Season 7 and a certified Rock Star (according to many fans and non-fans), haters to the farthest left. Now tell me, why is he a FAKE ROCKER? Give me your thesis statement.
MY Top 12 (11)- This was months ago.
David Cook
David Archuleta
Jason Castro
Michael Johns
Danny Noriega
David Hernandez
Carly Smithson
Amanda Overmyer
Asia'h Epperson
Ramiele Malubay
Brooke White
(Not necessary to have a 6th girl)
